Enzymatic degumming utilizing a mixture of PLA and PLC phospholipases with reduced reaction time

Abstract

A method for degumming an oil composition comprises the steps of (a) providing an oil composition containing a quantity of phospholipids, (b) contacting said oil composition simultaneously with one or more phospholipase A enzymes and one or more phospholipase C enzymes, under conditions sufficient for the enzymes to react with the phospholipids to create phospholipid reaction products, and (c) separating the phospholipids reaction products from the oil composition, the remaining oil composition after the separation being a degummed oil composition, whereby during step (b) the reaction of said one or more phospholipase A enzymes proceeds at a faster rate than it would in the absence of said one or more phospholipase C enzymes, and wherein the reaction of step (b) continues for a duration of less than about one hour.

We claim: 
     
       1. A method for degumming a soybean oil composition comprising
 (a) providing a soybean oil composition containing a quantity of phospholipids, 
 (b) contacting said soybean oil composition simultaneously with one or more phospholipase A enzymes in a quantity of about 2 ppm of active enzyme or less and one or more phospholipase C enzymes in a quantity of about 30 ppm of active enzyme or less, under conditions sufficient for the enzymes to react with the phospholipids to create phospholipid reaction products, and 
 (c) separating the phospholipid reaction products from the oil composition, the remaining oil composition after the separation being a degummed soybean oil composition, 
 whereby during step (b) the reaction of said one or more phospholipase A enzymes proceeds at a faster rate than it would in the absence of said one or more phospholipase C enzymes, wherein the duration of the reaction of the enzymes with the phospholipids is less than one hour, and wherein said reaction of the enzymes with the phospholipids is conducted at a pH of about 3-7 at a temperature of about 40-80° C., and the degummed soybean oil composition of step (c) has a phospholipid content measured as parts per million of phosphorous of about 20 ppm or less. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the duration of the reaction of the enzymes with the phospholipids is about thirty minutes. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein said one or more phospholipase A enzymes are selected from the group consisting of a phospholipase A1 enzyme and a phospholipase A2 enzyme. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein said one or more phospholipase C enzymes are selected from the group consisting of a phospholipase C enzyme and a phosphatidyl-inositol specific phospholipase C enzyme. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein said reaction of the enzymes with the phospholipids occurs at a temperature of about 40-60° C. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein said soybean oil composition comprises a crude soybean oil. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein said soybean oil composition comprises a previously degummed soybean oil. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein said PLC enzyme is present in a quantity of about 20 ppm of active enzyme or less. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , wherein said PLC enzyme is present in a quantity of about 10 ppm of active enzyme or less. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein said PLA enzyme is present in a quantity of about 1 ppm of active enzyme or less. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , wherein said PLA enzyme is present in a quantity of about 0.5 ppm of active enzyme or less. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , wherein during step (b) the mixture of the soybean oil composition and the enzymes is initially shear mixed. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , wherein said shear mixing continues for a duration of at least about 45 seconds. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1 , wherein during step (b) a quantity of water is added. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14 , wherein said quantity of water is at least about 1.5% by weight of the total mixture. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein said quantity of water is at least about 3.0% by weight of the total mixture. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , wherein said quantity of water is at least about 4.5% by weight of the total mixture. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 1 , wherein said phospholipid content is about 10 ppm or less. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , wherein said phospholipid content is about 5 ppm or less.